Happy New Year to all blog followers!! I hope the year ahead will bring everything you wish for.

Our evening was a good one, although most barely made midnight!! It was my nephew Jack's first night in a tent and coupled with a few trips to and from the car and plenty of exploration he admirably made it to about 11! The evening also doubled as a second Christmas as we caught up with the whole Ahern clan and exchanged gifts and ate lovely food! King Island Eye Filet Mignon, with Mash and Beans. Accompanied by a salad of rocket, prosciutto, pear, Parmesan & pine nuts.

This morning saw the departure of Mum from the walking part of my trip. Sal and I loved having her along for part of the walk and she will be missed from here on in!! I'll still get to see Mum at Mt Hotham with my food drop and again in about 10 days when I grab another food drop and switch back to the pushy.

So today saw the inclusion of Frank my father-in-law, who would accompany Sal and I to Dibbins and on to Mt Hotham tomorrow. The walk across the southern part of the High Plains is always spectacular, affording breathtaking views of our only true 'alpine' looking peak Mt Feathertop. Frank was certainly in his element, having not hiked for a number of years you could see him drinking it all in.

Lunch was at a Brumby trap, basically a removable fenced yard, that allows Parks to 'humanely capture and remove' Brumbies from the High Plains. I know in my last visit to the Mt Jim area there was a huge pack of Brumbies calling the area home, but this time we only spotted three. It seems this program is seeing success.

The track reached the edge of the plain and plunged 400 vertical metres down to the Cobungra River and Dibbin Hut. The campsite was amazingly busy, but we managed to secure a nice flat and grassy site. Frank had popped a bottle of champagne into his pack so dinner was that little bit nicer, in beautiful surrounds. As dinner neared completion a strange group of about 8 or 10 late teen and early 20 year old males and females arrived with two older men with them. I'll let you decide on what their deal was but two things struck us as rather strange. Firstly, we heard at least five different individuals refer to the older man as "Dad" and secondly as we went to bed 'dad' read to the assembled group and then they all chanted something in unison at the end...weird! Another camper at the site referred to the as 'The Family'...hmmmm!??

Anyway a spectacular day had come to a close. Tomorrow the last day I would spend walking with anyone else for the rest of the trip.